Avoid Spyware Infections, Data Theft by Blocking USB Ports

USB Ports offer a great convenience to the computer users. In the unlikely case somebody wants to know more about USB…

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to connect devices to a host computer. USB was designed to allow many peripherals to be connected using a single standardized interface socket and to improve plug and play capabilities by allowing hot swapping; that is, by allowing devices to be connected and disconnected without rebooting the computer or turning off the device. Other convenient features include providing power to low-consumption devices, eliminating the need for an external power supply; and allowing many devices to be used without requiring manufacturer-specific device drivers to be installed.

However, every good thing comes at a price.

The very nature of the USB Ports to allow easy data access, also mean that it is the cause of making your system vulnerable by exposing it to the malware and spyware infections. If you are running a computer network, you never know, which computer in the network gets compromised due to insertion of an infected USB, thus infecting the entire network.

In a corporate environment, the USB Ports also presents a danger of data theft. You may want to disallow certain group of people to be able to write or read into your files. If you disable the USB Ports in their computers, then, to a certain degree, you can avoid the theft of important data. Although it is not a fool proof method, but still it can provide a fair degree of security from the data theft.

How to Block USB Ports and Avoid Malware Infection and Data Theft

The freeware NetWrix USB Blocker centrally disables USB devices to prevent unauthorized use of removable media that connects to computer USB ports (memory sticks, removable disks, and iPods). The best part of this USB Blocker is that it allows you to control the USB Ports in the entire network from a single Administrator interface.

The product is provided free of charge for unlimited use by organizations and individuals. They also provide a commercial solution with enhanced features like support to devices like iPods, Printers, PDAs, Network Adapters, Imaging Devices etc. The commercial version also allows the administrator to use the user activity logging.